In re Ah Jow

The return to the writ shows that petitioner is in custody in pursuance of a judgment upon a conviction upon a complaint charging him with a public offense, to-wit: “Visiting a room kept, in the city of Modesto, by another, where opium was sold.” The offense for which the petitioner was convicted, and committed as a punishment, is created by section 2 of ordinance INo. 4 of the city of Modesto, which reads as follows:

“Sec. 2. Every person who, in the city of Modesto, opens, keeps, or maintains any room or other place where opium, or any of its preparations, is sold or given away, and eoery…